ORANGE PARK - The new face in the center of the St. Johns Country Day School volleyball team was the key player with her hands on the Lady Spartans state champion girls soccer team and the winning ways seems to be permeating the volleyball roster.

Spartan senior middle hitter Maddie Moody, who was the best throw-in soccer player in Florida, if not the USA, has transitioned to joining her little sister, sophomore Juliet, on the volleyball hardwood and the result is an 8-0 season for coach Traci Livingston.

St. Johns has punched in with wins over Westside, St. Francis Catholic, Duval Charter, First Coast Christian, St. Joseph Academy and Bishop Snyder the latest on Thurs., Sept. 16. Snyder was 4-1 before their match with the Spartans last week. Harvest and St. Joseph's were both 2-0 prior to their matches with St. Johns.

On Mon., Sept. 21, the Lady Spartans dispatched First Coast Christian 3-0 with Maddie Moody and teammate Kinley Hall both hitting six scoring shots. Juliet Moody and Kate Jacobs both had eight successful digs on defense.

St. Johns finished last year as a region playoff quarterfinal finisher with a loss to top ranked Christ's Church. Christ's Church lost in the region finals.

For Moody, the proof is in the pudding with the lanky senior athlete leading the Lady Spartans stat page with 54 scoring kills to head up the offensive front for St. Johns.

Behind Moody, the numbers are equally impressive, if not consistent with Lauryn Mateo, a soccer player, and Kinley Hall, a basketballer, both with 38 scores thus far. Junior Emma Gonzales is right in the mix with 37 as the Lady Spartans attack starts at center point and spreads effectively across the net.

On the service end, Moody leads the team with 23 aces off the back line with freshman Gracie Arnett adding another 21. Arnett has led the Spartans set up scheme with 162 assists up front.

Blocking, Moody against leads the team with 13 smashes on opposing offenses.

In other action around the county, Fleming Island revisited Ridgeview High School on Tues., Sept. 15 after a season opening 2-0 preseason loss in early September to beat the Panthers 3-1 in the rematch.

Against Ridgeview II, Emma Richard led the Golden Eagle wtih 13 kills followed by Maya Walker's 12 and Jasmine Robinson's 11. Libero Jangelyz Ramirez held defense with 34 digs.

Fleming Island is unbeaten at 4-0 in regular season play with wins over Keystone Heights, Mandarin and Oakleaf.

The Golden Eagles front line has wracked up kill totals of 39 for Walker and Richard and 37 for Jasmine Robinson.

Fleming Island has upcoming games with Bartram Trail (Tues, Sept. 22) and 4A power Bishop Kenny (4-2, lost in region finals last year) on Wed., Sept. 23.

Ridgeview lost a 3-0 match to Ponte Vedra on Mon., Sept. 21. Ponte Vedra was unbeaten (now 4-0).

At Middleburg, the Lady Broncos have faced off against state powers Santa Fe (4A) and Ponte Vedra (5A) as their two losses thus far to be at 3-2. Middleburg will travel to Providence (3-1) on Tues., Sept. 22 in another major matchup with a JJVA Tournament set for Fri.-Sat., Sept. 25-26 in Jacksonville. Middleburg's second game of the JJVA tournament is against unbeaten defending state champion 1A-Sneads High (8-0) out of the Florida Panhandle.

Middleburg has two wins over Oakleaf on their roster and one over Orange Park.

Senior Jenna Sypniewski is top scorer with 42 kills with junior Tamin Trott with 27. Trott is top blocker with 12 stuffs.

Senior Leslie Catlett leads with 45 digs on the defense.

Oakleaf is 2-5 with wins over Orange Park and Baker County last week after a gauntlet start featuring Fleming Island, Ridgeview, Bartam Trail and Middleburg.

Senior Jalana Hope leads the Knights with 54 kills followed by Madison Fagan with 11. Hope also leads with 13 blocks and 55 digs with freshman Sydney Little adding 51 digs.

Oakleaf's schedule stays rugged with Mandarin (3-1) and Providence (3-1) upcoming.

Keystone Heights opened with two wins for new coach Kaitlyn Cline then caught the first loss at Fleming Island to be at 3-3.

Clay is 3-4 with wins over West Nassau and Keystone Heights and Middleburg on the schedule for Thurs., Sept. 24.

At the JJVA River City Classic Tournament, Clay opens on Sat., Sept. 26 against 1A runnerup Newberry High.

Ridgeview sits at 5-3 after the loss to Fleming Island with earlier losses to Fletcher and Creekside. The Lady Panthers knocked out Bolles on Thursday with unbeaten Ponte Vedra visiting the Panther Den on Mon., Sept. 21. and Keystone Heights coming Tues., Sept. 22.

Orange Park has a 1-5 season going with a win over St. Augustine and a match set for Wed., Sept. 23 with unbeaten St. Johns Country Day School.